The jobs market is continuing to have a boom. An always reassuring set of numbers is the way the various new jobs surveys keep pointing to the regular improvement. The latest put last months number of new jobs advertised at around 3 percent better than the previous month, which also recorded a 3 percent lift. One interesting statistic is that new jobs in Australia are being created at the rate of one every 30 seconds. Unemployment has now dropped to just over 5 percent.

Retail sales continue to expand with the latest monthly figures showing a lift of under one percent over the previous month. This was the third increase in three months and comes at a time when consumer confidence is said to be declining due to higher interest rates. It means the total monthly retail market now exceeds $20 billion.

The vital building industry maintains its healthy overall picture with the Australian Industry Group and Housing Industry Association saying its members are still expanding their work and enjoying healthy growth.

Australia is the fourth fastest growing property market in the developed world due to an average 20 percent increase in the past year. This puts us right up there behind the Asian tiger economies like China and Hong Kong.

Australia’s big debt is again becoming a problem. International financiers are signalling their worry about sufficient funds coming into Australia as our debts continue to mount. The biggest single worry is whether house prices will keep rising. Currently, RBA data shows overseas investors hold around $650 billion in our wholesale debt and our banks are getting around 30 percent of their funding from global markets.

This year’s KPMG Annual Private Companies Survey shows a big lift in confidence over 12 months ago. The research indicates that nearly 80 percent of businesses surveyed are preparing to expand, a huge increase over last year.